Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/141

 CHAP. II. JAJPUR AND KATAK. 113 frequently stated above, the Hindus hate an arch, and never will use it except under compulsion. The Muhammadans taught them to get over their prejudices and employ the arch in their civil buildings in later times, but to the present day they avoid it in their temples in so far as it is possible to do so. In Orissa, however, in the I3th century, they built numerous bridges in various parts of the province, but never employed a true arch in any of them. The Athara-nala bridge at Puri has been drawn 322. Hindu Bridge at Jajpur. (From a Photograph.) and described by Stirling, and is the finest in the province of those still in use. He ascribes its construction to Kabir Narsingh-deva II., about 1280; Rajendralal Mitra placed it two centuries earlier. 1 Between the abutments it is 278 ft. long, with nineteen spans of 7 to 16 ft. wide, and with a roadway 38 ft. wide. That shown in the above woodcut (No. 322) is at Jajpur and is probably older, and certainly more picturesque, though constructed on the same identical plan. It may be unscientific, but many of these old bridges are standing and i From the Puri temple annals. 'Antiquities of Orissa,' vol. ii. p. 112. Neither date has satisfactory authority. VOL. II H